"You're what!"
"Pregnant…" she repeated.
"Is it mine?"
Lorelai's face was covered with hurt. "Of course, it's yours. Who's else would it be?"
Chris collapsed onto the bed. "I can't believe this."
"Well, don't sound so surprised about it, we've been having unprotected sex for the last month." Lorelai calmly replied as she sat down on the bed beside him.
"How are you not freaking out right now?" Chris asked, his hands beginning to shake.
Lorelai gazed downward. "I found out last night… I started to get upset, but then I realized it's not such a bad thing."
"Lorelai, are you crazy? You're 15… I'm 16… We're just sophomores in high school… I just got my license."
"Chris, don't you see what this is? This is a chance for me to finally be someone. Instead of being the girl who didn't know she was adopted, or the girl who's been dating Chris Hayden for a year and a half, I'll be a mother. I'll finally have a title… and a purpose." She smiled. "I'm happy about it. We can be great parents. We can do all the things we never got to do as kids."
Chris jumped from the bed. "You're cracked! I can't believe you're even serious about having this baby. Your life is not going to get better by having a kid at 16, it's going to get worse! Don't you realize that? It's going to ruin both of our lives!"
"That's a horrible thing to say!" Lorelai yelled in return. "You had just as much to do with this as I did. I didn't get pregnant by myself!"
"Why didn't you go on the pill or something?"
"Why didn't you wear a condom?" Lorelai countered.
"I thought you were taking care of that sort of thing…"
Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Oh, well that's being precautious."
"Who knows about this?" Chris's voice became hard.
"No one… You're the first and only person I've told."
"Keep it that way." Chris demanded.
Lorelai huffed. "Uh, Chris, pregnancy isn't exactly something you can keep a secret. See you get bigger and bigger each month and then you have a baby."
"Don't be a smart ass!" Chris scoffed. "I have to figure out what we're going to do about this. Until then, you don't tell a soul what's happened." He pointed his finger in Lorelai's face.
"Don't point at me, Chris." Lorelai replied in a very calm voice. "I'll tell who I please about this baby."
"You're being stupid." Chris growled. "You're not ready to be a parent."
"Me? You're the one who's not ready." Lorelai replied. "I don't understand you Christopher. I thought you'd be happy…."
"Happy?" Chris repeated. "Happy?" He quickly turned away and then turned back. "Why would I be happy? I don't want a kid!"
Lorelai became silent. She focused her attention on the floor. Chris' breathing became heavy. "If you keep this baby…." He paused. "We're over." Lorelai's eyes quickly shot up from the floor to Chris. "I'm serious…" he continued. "I don't want any part of this."
"Fine." Lorelai replied in a low voice. "I don't need you." Lorelai opened her bedroom door and stood beside it. "Leave."
Chris nodded his head. He stormed out of the room. "This relationship has went to hell, anyway." He muttered as he walked by.
Lorelai slammed the door behind him. She quickly began to destroy all the things that reminded her of Chris. His pictures, his letters, his cards. Then she found the promise ring he had given her nearly six months ago. She picked up the box and without a second thought, tossed it into her trash can. She fell upon her bed, and for the first time, since the strip turned pink, she cried.
A few hours later, she heard Joan returning home from work. She had calmed down for the most part, but was still very emotional. She knew she had to eventually tell Joan about the situation. Lorelai knew she couldn't hold off for very long. Joan was a very smart woman and would notice something was going on. Joan was pregnant herself at sixteen. Lorelai found humor in the fact she had followed in her mother's footsteps. She was also depending upon that fact that Joan would be understanding and helpful when she heard the news.
"Lorelai, are you home?" Joan's voice called through the apartment.
"In my room!"
Joan entered the bedroom. She sighed and sat down on the bed beside Lorelai. "Ugh, what a day. My feet are killing me." She laid back on the bed and placed her arms behind her head. "I feel like I've been hit by a truck."
"Did Mr. Olson lose his files again?" Lorelai asked.
Joan nodded. "This time, we didn't find them until after the patient had left. I was on my feet all day long searching through hundreds of files. Finally, I found the right ones… in the termination pile. Thank God I found them before the shredder had them for dinner."
Lorelai leaned over and rested her head on her mother's shoulder. She placed her arm around Joan's waist. This was Lorelai's way of softening Joan for the news she was about to deliver. Joan, being her usual kindhearted self, thought nothing more of the gesture than being loving affection from her daughter.
Joan ran her hands through Lorelai's hair. "You're hair is getting so long." She replied. "You're due for a haircut."
"I like it long." Lorelai whispered as she cuddled closer.
"You have dead ends, sweetheart. We at least have to trim them." Joan continued the soothing motion, manipulating Lorelai to close her eyes and relax. She forgot a brief moment about the baby growing inside her.
"Mom?"
"Yes?"
"You would love me no matter what, wouldn't you?" Lorelai asked.
"Of course I would." Joan smiled.
"No matter what happened, or what I had done?"
"No matter." Joan stopped playing with Lorelai's hair, and awaited to see where the conversation was heading.
"But sometimes, something that appears bad isn't really so bad. It just seems that way."
Now Joan was confused with Lorelai's sudden skip in the conversation. "Lorelai, have you done something that would appear bad?"
"Not just me." Lorelai replied. "Chris too."
"What have you and Chris done?"
Lorelai could hear the mother tone coming out in Joan's voice. She knew, she was too far in now to back out. "I'm pregnant." She whispered. She closed her eyes, and hoped for the very best. She felt Joan's body tighten as she gasped.
"Oh, my God." Joan said as she stared off into the dead space.
Lorelai rose from the bed. "Don't be angry…" she replied.
"Lorelai, are you sure?" Joan asked.
"I bought a pregnancy test yesterday. It turned pink."
Joan quickly placed her hand to her head. "Oh, dear." She muttered. She gazed back up at Lorelai. "How long have you been having sex?"
Lorelai swallowed heavily. "About six months." She honestly replied.
"Six months?..." a look of terror came across Joan's face. "How could I have not known? Why didn't you tell me?"
Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know…"
"I could have kept you from getting pregnant. There are birth control options, and everything these days…"
"I don't understand…" Lorelai replied. "You were pregnant with me at sixteen."
"That's not the point! I don't want you to go through what I went through. I never saw your father again after you were born. I was lucky the Gilmores were willing to let me stay with you."
"I'll be a good mother." Lorelai defended.
"What about high school? What about college?" Joan paused. "Have you told, Chris?"
Lorelai quickly looked away and didn't answer. Joan leaned her head back and gazed up at the ceiling. "He left you…" she concluded.
"I told him to leave!" Lorelai remarked. She was beginning to become emotional again. "He said if I had the baby that we were over, so I told him to go! I don't need him! Why aren't you happy for me? I want this baby, I think I'll be very good as a mother!"
"Sweetheart, you're too young…"
"I'm not too young! I'm the same age as you were."
Joan took Lorelai by the hand. "Just because I did it, doesn't mean it's right."
Tears rolled down Lorelai's cheek. "What do you want me to do?" she asked.
Joan stared deep into Lorelai's eyes. She could see the confusion, and the pain. She took a deep breath. "I want you to come with me to the doctor tomorrow. We'll need him to examine you, and make sure everything is okay."
Lorelai embraced her mother tightly and began to sob in her arms.
"It's okay…" Joan coaxed. "Everything will be okay. I'm here."